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Watch lovers are notoriously opinionated. If you have ever sit down with any number of them at a dinner table, chances are you'd have experienced some fairly "candid" conversations, with participants fervently defending their views (with respect, of course) over the most minute aspect of the debate at hand. This is really quite expected, given the virtually unlimited number of angles from which one could approach the subject, which would certainly spawn conflicting opinions. That's all good and honestly, that's what's mesmerising about this silly little hobby that is horology - it's democratising. But if there's one thing, one single watch topic that guarantees to extract consensus from almost every watch aficionado, it'd be that date windows are bad. Like, super bad. It doesn't matter how they actually do provide useful information. Nor does it matter that "date" is in fact a complication, just as the chronograph is one. When a watch person sees a date aperture on the dial of watch, he/she frowns, and walks away. End of story.

Why, you ask? Well, two major reasons. First, poorly designed and positioned date windows can wreck the entire aesthetic of an otherwise completely fine watch face beyond repair, such as by cutting into numerals/ sub-dials, or by sabotaging the symmetry of the dial. Secondly, consumer researches have it that the biggest reason for the existence of a date function in modern watches, are that average consumers still do demand it for its practicality. And voila! Loathing date windows became the simplest way of declaring one as being more than just an "average consumer", but rather a real, discerning watch lover who takes pride in appreciating the "non-practicality" of mechanical watches. In short, it's en vogue to denounce date windows categorically.

​Having said that, good date window designs do exist, with some of them being downright brilliant and beautiful. In such instances, not only do they not come across as a source of annoyance, they make the watches. In this episode of Analysis, we examine some of the best watch window designs and ponder upon what make them so great. But first, a little history lesson.